Tags
blues rock, electric blues, Elvin Bishop (b. 1942), John Michael "Mickey" Thomas (b. 1949), soft rock
LUMPENPROLETARIAT “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” is a gorgeous song recorded in 1975 (and released in 1976) by Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas on vocals, which we’ve heard on classic rock radio in the San Francisco Bay Area (or, perhaps, in your neck of the woods) over the years since its release in the mid-’70s before it became classic rock. The song is featured in various movies. But there’s a heart-wrenching scene in the 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson film Boogie Nights, which has undoubtedly seared the ballad into the minds of new generations of music connoisseurs. This excellent song, which eloquently articulates the potential downside of entering into a romantic relationship, peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1976.
One may meet one’s match in the game of love. Whether or not that’s a tragic occasion is entirely subjective and seemingly arbitrary. One never knows what to expect when one chooses to put one’s tender little heart in the hands of another. It may be respected. Or it may be disrespected. Things may be lovey dovey for a long time, or just for a little while. Meanwhile, the Buddhist tradition has been trying to teach us that attachment is the source of all suffering. Romantic love, we observe, offers us no guarantees of durability, nor equality of affection. If you fooled around and fell in love, hold strong, my friend, should the weather turn stormy.
Messina
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“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” (1975) by Elvin Bishop (with Mickey Thomas)
I must have been through about a million girls
I’d love ’em and I’d leave ’em alone
I didn’t care how much they cried, no sir
Their tears left me cold as a stone
But then I fooled around and fell in love
I fooled around and fell in love
Since I met you baby
I fooled around and fell in love
I fooled around and fell in love
Free, on my own that’s the way I used to be
Ah, but since I met you baby
Love’s got a hold on me
It’s got a hold on me now
I can’t let go of you baby
I can’t stop lovin’ you now
‘Cause I fooled around, fooled around, fooled around
Fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fell in love
Fooled around, fooled around, yes I did
Fooled around, fooled around, fooled around
I fell in love, yes I did
Songwriter(s): BISHOP, ELVIN
“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
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[ELVIN BISHOP lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” lyrics are provided here for educational and personal use only.]
[Image of single cover art for Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” by Source (WP:NFCC#4), used via fair use.]
[7 APR 2017]
[Last modified at 18:15 PST on 7 APR 2017]
